I keep saying that I don't have anything of interest to blog about, but Terra kindly reminded me that I actually have LOTS to talk about.  (Well, I ALWAYS have lots to talk about, but not much to blog about most days!)

Well, two weeks ago Terra and I planned Amber's 24th birthday!  We were supposed to drive to Aomori City which is about 2 hours away and go to the new Tony Roma's that they just opened.  We were SUPER SUPER excited about having American food and invited tons of people.

Terra and I even made super cute water bottles for all of the ladies with their names on them and also goodie boxes with initials and glitter cupcakes and *sigh* total cuteness!

But, when the day came, it was snowy and rainy and driving 2 hours for dinner wasn't an option.  So, we decided to stay in Misawa and just go to Ohashi's.  I had only ever been there one time before and that was at Amber's birthday last year!  (HA!)  Everyone was raving about the hot beef in a box *snicker*, but I saw it on the menu (Japanese menus have lots of pictures) and it looked awful.

So, I ordered fried chicken and rice!  But, the fried chicken was all fatty and nasty, so I wound up ordering a steak that comes on a cast iron plate (think fajitas) and is only half cooked.  You cook it the rest yourself by turning the meat.  It turned out to be REALLY REALLY good.  It was super expensive, but it tasted really good!

Anyway, everyone seemed to have a great time and we're going to go to Tony Roma's in Aomori this spring (when we don't have to worry about snow)  YAY!  =)

Cannon participated in the Pinewood Derby this weekend for Scouts and one First Place in the Tiger Scouts division!  YAY!  His car was taken to Tokyo to compete in the BIG final race there!  Wish him luck!  Here's some pix of the event!

When I posted a picture of my iPhone with my new super amazing Hello Kitty theme on Facebook last night, you would think that I had discovered the most amazing thing ever!  A bunch of people commented on it, but even more messaged me wanting to know HOW I DID IT!?!  So, being the super sweet person that I am...I'm telling everyone!

First, the phone has to be jail broken.  Seriously, if you're using an iPhone that isn't jail broken, it's like using a laptop with standard windows (or Mac) background, not changing the color of your start menu, and only wearing black flats everyday!  You have to have a little FLAIR and CUSTOMIZATION in your life to REALLY live.  And yes, I totally LIVE through my iPhone.  I'm addicted.  But, I digress...this isn't a blog about my addictions, this is a blog about how to get sweet stuff like THIS...

Well, now that you're completely hooked by the super adorableness of the Hello Kitty theme....here's the "How-To" Section!

1--Jailbreak your phone.  If you don't know how then follow these steps first!  =)  These are written by Carl, so you should know that they're the best!  =)

2--The jailbreaking instructions will also tell you to download Cydia & Winter Board.  These are applications where you can download other applications, themes, add-ons, and more!

3--Within the Cydia app, go to "Manage" (on the bottom dock).  The screen will say "Loading Dock" for up to a few minutes...don't rush it...just wait!

3--Click "Sources" (in the middle...very obviously in the middle!)

4--Click "Edit"  (top right)!

5--Click "Add" (top left)!

6--In the box that pops up type in this web address:  http://cy.sosiphone.com

7--Click "OK".  This will load the extensions from SOS iPhone in to your Cydia app, and may take a few minutes.  Be patient!

8--When it has finished loading, click "Sections" on the bottom dock.

9--Scroll down until you find "Themes (Complete)"

10--And to DL the Hello Kitty one that I have, scroll down until you find "Hello Kitty!"  There are HUNDREDS of other full themes there, so if you're not completely devoted to the awesomeness that IS Hello Kitty, you might want to browse around and see what else they have for you.

11--Click "Install" (top right)!  It will begin DLing this application.  It will either have a button that says to "Return to Cydia" or "Reboot iPhone"  I can't remember what comes up, but when it is done installing, do whatever it tells you to do!

12--The phone will eventually have to reboot.  This is when you go in to the "Winter Board" app.

13--Find the area that says "Hello Kitty" and click it to activate it.

14--Press the "Home" button (round one that you use to get back to main screen)!

15--You'll see an hour glass that shows that it is loading.  And right now, it's loading your new theme.  Once the theme has finished loading, you'll have your theme!

This specific theme is SUPER cute!  Here are just SOME of the cute features that it has:

• Custom icons for standard apps (plus a few commonly used add-ons)
• Hello Kitty's head shows that you have a WiFi connection
• Hello Kitty's bow spins to represent loading on the top doc
• All of the screens are PINK!
• Your slide bar is pink and Hello Kitty's head
• When you're plugged in, the image is Hello Kitty's head in a battery (not as creepy as it sounds!)
• When you text, you're Hello Kitty (and pink!) and everyone else is Yellow!
• Your dialer is Hello Kitty
• When you're loading something in Cydia, instead of the spinning bars, you get Hello Kitty changing clothes VERY quickly
• You get a cute pink wallpaper instead of the traditional boring black one
• And there are a few other things that I can't remember, and I'm sure lots of other things I haven't found yet!

Jail breaking your phone also gives you the ability (if you don't have the 3GS with video capabilities like me!) to download an app called "Cycorder" and video.  It works amazingly well!

Anyway, hope this helps everyone!  Let me know if you have questions!

-x-o-x-o-

How to Jailbreak your iPhone:

Step 1 - Backup your iPhone

Step 2 - Download and install the latest iPhone software (3.1.2) to your iPhone from iTunes.

Step 3 - Close iTunes and go to www.blackra1n.com and select the Windows icon below the strange photo of the kid and download then run the blackra1n.exe software.

Step 4 - Ensure your iPhone is plugged in and on, and select "make it ra1n". Your iPhone will begin to flash and then reboot (should take about 30sec or so)

Step 5 - Once your iPhone is rebooted, find the Blackra1n drop on your main page and select it. You will now have to select and download Cydia and WinterBoard to start installing jail broken apps and themes.


--Now go here and do all of SaV's steps to pimp out your phone!

This is the last leg of the fun, long holiday weekends!  I enjoyed my 4 day weekend over Christmas, and also over New Year, but now *sniffle sniffle*, I have to prepare for the REAL world again.  This means, I have to wake up at 5 AM to run on the treadmill for an hour before I get in the shower and start getting ready for work. Also, since it's a new year, I have a resolution that I'm hoping isn't broken in the first week (but I can't make any promises!)  I'm going to go to the gym ALMOST every day after work.  And I'm going to like it.  I know, I know, that last bit is hard to believe, but that's the plan!  Anyway, the second long weekend is over, so let's talk about it a bit shall we?

Wednesday night we had supper with Jake & Amber.  We were supposed to go to Karinba's for some MEAN Chinese food, but that didn't work out, so we had Mokuteki pizza and watched The Goods.  It was HILARIOUS!  Really...I liked it a lot!


Thursday (New Years Eve), we uhhh.....I can't remember, but we watched a few movies with Cannon and managed to stay up only long enough to say HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Then went to bed!


Friday (New Years Day!), we went to the Weasels' Den and rented Carl a snowboard and let Cannon play for awhile and came home and had New Years supper!  Ham, corn casserole, squishy taters and mac & cheese...MMM!  Can't get much better than that!

Saturday, we had planned to go snowboarding, but the wind was INSANE!  So, we didn't get to go.  Sadness for Carl (I was actually kinda bummed too!  I was looking forward to seeing Cannon use his snowboard for the first time!  The picture at right just isn't holding me over!  Anyway, so since we didn't go snowboarding, I made Saturday my day of nothing.  I sat in jammies all day, ate left overs, watched lots of movies and caught up on Gossip Girl.  It was fantastic, but Carl was bored to tears!  So, I told him that the next day, we'd go do stuff!


And that brings us to today (Sunday)!  We went to eat some Mexican food, picked up massive quantities of alcohol!  (THX TERRA!) and drove our happy selves to Hachinohe to immerse ourselves in all things Japanese!  (You can check out our trip here!  We found a super cool iPhone App that tells you where the cops are AND tracks your trip for all to see...fun eh?)


Carl said that if I didn't drive, I had to take pix.  Not sure if it's what he had in mind, but this is what he got.  Something super cool about all of this is that I was able to text message back and forth with Tyson the WHOLE time we were running around Hachinohe!  Makes me feel like we're not separated by 6,000+ miles and the Pacific!  =)

Now I present you with, the Hachinohe Trip...(In Pictures!)

This lady was running next to a rice field!  (See me in the mirror?!)

OMG!  A KFC IN JAPAN!  Wait...no mashed potatoes?...Lame....

Not really sure what happens here...maybe a spinach plant?

A Carl Bird in its rare-animated form!

Horse-Horse!

This looks like a SUPER cool place!

THIS is why we came!  Toys R US!  WOOHOO!!

This dude needs a bit more elaboration.  We were in the pet store, and this thing was walking on a leash.  He picked him up, walked over to Cannon and said "Touch Beaver OK!"  So...Cannon pet the beaver on a leash.  My thoughts were that EVERYONE should keep their beaver on a leash!

This is in the window of a dress shop here in Misawa.  The dude looks like he's clubbed a few snow leopards to make his coat and he's posing with a Doberman....does anyone else find this odd??

-x-o-x-o-

I know I haven't blogged about Christmas yet, but there are a bunch of pictures and lots to say, so I'm putting it off until I have MUCH more time!  =)

BUT, today is my friend/boss, Terra's birthday!  I'm not sure if it is a blessing or a curse to have your birthday to close to Christmas and New Years, but she keeps getting presents, so I'm assuming it's a GOOD thing!  =)

Yesterday she got a HUGE bottle of Saki.  Seriously, it was gigantic!  (I'm secretly hoping I get her liquor cabinet when they PCS! *hint hint*) ((HAHA!  She called today to find out what I wanted...she can read minds!))

Anyway, so she is the bestest boss EVER and we wanted to give her an equally special birthday cake!  When you get have the minds that created this blog and that created Cannon's infamous Stitch Shark Cake you end up with one of the most righteous cakes EVER!  (See the below!)

Anyway, we made her a super cute cake and got her a Hello Kitty Paddle. (Miyuki..what's the real name?) It has Hello Kitty dressed in a Kimono on a ping pong board that signifies hope and dreams and old Japanesey stuff!  (I think..?) and a plant!  Carl was concerned about it falling over, so he seat belted it in the back seat...sweet huh?  Well, this special plant has holes in it.  I asked the lady if it was supposed to have holes in it, and she said no.  Then I asked if it was dying and she said no.  So, I'm not really sure what the deal is with this plant, but today when Terra watered it, a ton of gnats (not the gneat ones) flew out!  EWW!  And I'm sure some ended up in my hair because I've been itching all afternoon.  *ugh!*

Anyway!  I just hope that her birthday was as special as she is!  Cause I <3 her lots!

WHOA!  This weekend (and by weekend I mean Saturday) was super busy!

We woke up early (for me on a weekend anyway!) and went to have Breakfast with SANTA!  The place was packed!  The event was over at 10 am, so we showed up at 9 thinking we could eat then get our pix with Santa and be out in time to bake at Terra's house by 11.  Yeah...didn't work out that way!  We stood in line for TWO hours waiting on the picture.  Ugh!  But, the people at the Club were amazing!  I'm sure they all wanted to go home at 10, but they were super awesome and waited until the last person in line go their picture taken with Santa!  WOOHOO!!  Buddy Elf & Jovi Elf were there too!  I think Trish made an ADORABLE Jovi, and James was the best Buddy ever!  Don't'cha think?

Then I went to Terra's to bake with Amber, Miyuki, and Edie.  I was only an hour and a half late... :\  I hate being late, but I'm always late.  I'm the scatter-brained friend that shows up late forgetting something that I was supposed to bring, do, or ask.  I've embraced it.  It's just me.  Anyway, we were so busy baking brownies, fudge, cookies, cupcakes, oreo balls, chex mix, and turtles that I completely forgot to take pictures.  Ugh!  I had the camera there and everything, but just didn't have the chance.  Oh well!  We will next time!  =)

So, I left Terra's house about 8:30 or so.  (I can't remember, it's all a blur!)  Then met up with the other girls at the bar for Denise's going away party.  The sad thing about all of my Air Force friends is that they all eventually move, or I will.  Luckily, the Air Force is a small world, and I'm sure we'll run in to each other again.  Anyway, the party was great!  We had a great time!  Drank, danced, and wore sweet ass star sunglasses...what could be better than that?  We'll miss you D!

So, now I'm super sleepy even though I haven't done anything other than lounge around today.  Now it's 9:42  and I'm off to bed!  Carl & Cannon are both off this week!  YAY!  And Christmas is just around the corner!

Ho! Ho! Ho Y'all!

I've been working like a crazy person the past month!  Niki, our Editor, was out of the office on vacation then emergency leave, so I was kinda picking up some of her work while she was gone.  (I say kinda, because I can't edit what I write...let me tell you, there were many Texan words in places where Texan words weren't necessary!)   Let me just say, that I'm glad she's back!  That's why I've been AWOL in the blog-o-sphere for about a month!  I was working super late to get stuff done.  Then by the time that I got home and cooked, I was too tired to do anything but sleep.  Seriously, I was asleep by 9 PM most nights!

But, that is all changing today!  Niki came back!  WOOOHOOOO!  I got to leave at my regularly scheduled Friday time of 2:30 and go and get some much needed Christmas shopping done.  I got Carl's present and a few stocking stuffers!  Everything is wrapped and under the Christmas tree!  We've already received all of our boxes from Texas and they're under the tree too!  I even got to open one from my Momma early today!  YAY!

Tomorrow we're having Breakfast with Santa then I'm heading over for a girl's Bake-A-Palooza at Terra's house with Amber, Edie and Miyuki!  I'm sure we'll have lots of pictures to post!  We always have a blast there!  We're going to be baking brownies, cookies, cakes, bark, gingerbread dudes, fudge, chex mix, and chocolate covered pretzels!  I'm sure that we'll have more than enough food left over to share with everyone that we know!

But for tonight, I'm going to spend a much needed relaxing night with the boys!  We're having home-made chicken noodle soup, and maybe a cookie or two while we watch The Santa Clause.  *sigh*  Christmas-time is awesome!

In the states we have BigFoot.  In Scotland they have Nessie.  In Japan they have, well, the most logical response to this pattern would be GODZILLA, but that's not the route that I'm taking...In Japan, they have Kappa! 

Kappa is known to live in bodies of fresh water throughout Japan.  They look like turtles and they stand upright like people (more like old people, cause they're kind of hunched over).  They have a natural bald spot on their heads and hair circling the crown of their head (kinda shaped like a halo).  On the inside of this halo, is a very small pool of water.  This is what keeps the Kappa's brain moistened and alive. 

They range from being super ugly (like right) to super cute (like below).  But, they are not cute.  They're evil.  They like to eat children.  It is said that long ago before families would go fishing or in to lakes, they would throw in cucumbers etched with their children's names so that the Kappa would eat the cucumbers instead of the children.  Kappa LOVE cucumbers.  Like...seriously...freak out about them!  Kappa are super manipulative and will do anything to convince you to come in to the water so that they can eat you. 

BUT, they are very courteous.  Their downfall is the fact that they are very curteous.  The only way to defeat a Kappa is to bow deeply.  The Kappa will bow even deeper causing the pool of water on their head of pour out, and their brain to get crunchy, and them to die. 

Before the Kappa eats you (and he WILL eat you), it will do something even worse.  It will steal your soul from your butt hole.  (Yes, I swear.)  This is why he is known in some portions of Japan as the anal vampire.  (HA!  An anal vampire that likes cucumbers...BUHAHAHAH!--Moving on!)

I have started a collection of these amazing creatures (I have one....).  I've never wanted to collect anything, but the adorableness and the strangeness of this particular creature fascinates me.  So, if you see anything Kappa...buy it for me.  But, if you see a REAL Kappa....squeeze your butt cheeks together super tight and go find a cucumber....

-x-o-x-o-

I am so mother effing pissed off right now.  This should NOT be the case since I just watched New Moon before it was released here in J-Pan, in the privacy of my home so that I could take in ALL of the radiating hawtness.  No, I should not be pissed, but I am!  Granted, my raging anger does not measure up to the hardships being faced by friends who have lost loved-ones, the friends whose spouses are deployed, or people who have severed their legs in unfortunate texting & driving related accidents (no, I don't know anyone PERSONALLY, but I know that this person exists out there and in retrospect, their list of things to be pissed off at are much more viable than mine).  However, it doesn't change the fact that I-AM-PISSED!

And in true SaV-induced narcassism, I know that you ALL want to know about WHY I'm pissed!  So, as to not further upset the happy world inhabitants, I'm making a list that I will elaborate on.  (You're welcome!)


(Ok, I'm kinda happy about a few things, so maybe I need two lists...)

Things That Pissed Me Off Today (in Chronological Order):

1)  I was two minutes late to work, and the communist time-clock clocked me in at 7:45.  WTF?  Seriously, I was here at 7:32...don't be such a hard ass! 

2)  The stupid dude who came in and ARGUED with me about picking something up (that wasn't ready and wasn't supposed to be read) THEN proceeded to ask me if he could have one my special cupcakes.  HELL THE EFF NO!  You don't listen to me, try to argue with me, then ask if you can have one of my cupcakes!!?!?!?  Then, when I reply by asking if he's going to PAY for the cupcake...he says No...then proceeds to remove the foil.....I loathe you!

3)  The Commissary (no elaboration needed....)

4)  The slow-ass Verizon internet speed that caused my New Moon watching to be interruped several times with "download timed out" errors.  Stupid, stupid, stupid!

5)  My husband was SUPPOSED to get off early since he's been cheated out of every day off known to man.  Seriously...I have a list on my computer and add the days he gets screwed to it.  He was SUPPOSED to be off yesterday...CARL ASKED ME TO REMOVE MY RANT HERE, SO IN EFFORT TO BE A GOOD WIFE, RANT IS REMOVED!


6)  Carl calls me at 5:30 (he's supposed to be off at 4:30...well actually earlier((see #5))) to tell me that he has to work FRIDAY, SATURDAY and SUNDAY.  Yes, over Thanksgiving weekend.  His entire Group has to work.  All because of a no-notice compliance inspection.  Isn't the point of a compliance inspection to make sure that you're IN compliance all the time?  Not to throw together every last-ditch effort to not be complete screw-ups in three days to save face?  I'm thinking, if you're crap isn't right, then yes, you should fail the inspection, because really...we're in hard war-like times, and if you can't do your job correctly, do we think it's safe to just throw together an "act" for people?  No...GD it...I don't think so!

7)  In my wifely-gossipy rampage, I called Miss Jen to complain, bitch, and bring her on the "we hate MXG" bandwagon.  (Which she graciously joined).  Then she mentioned to me that she got a gift certificate for baking cakes for the Air Show.  Remember thoes cakes?  The 80 of them that I baked?  WHAT?  She got an appreciation gift?  I didn't get an apprecation effing anything!  INFACT!  An email went out by one of the people in charge of Cub Scouts asking who volunteered and I responded with Cannon's name and they said "no, we mean AT the event."  And I said, "no, he was not AT the event, but he helped bake 80 cakes!" and they said "all efforts are appreciated, however, if they were not AT the event then they are not eligible for this Community Involvemen award'.  WTFEVER!  No appreciation, no thank you, and Cannon gets NOTHING out of it.  Screw you Cub Scouts!  See if I ever volunteer my time for your stupid fundraisers again! 

8)  When i'm pissed I eat, and when I eat, I get pissed.  Needless to say, Pizza Hut is VERY happy with the amount of pizza purchased today.  *cries*

9)  Cannon said the "P" word today.  Yup, the one that describes a cat.  He asked Carl what it meant in the middle of their pack meeting.  Carl said you could actually hear the crickets "croaking" of whatever the Crickets do.  Then I asked where he heard it and (surprise surprise) the SAP!  Some kid called another kid that today.  WTF!?  THEN aparently his teacher thought it was funny and laughed about it to another teacher all before telling them that it was a bad word and they didn't need to say it. *sigh* Cannon has been threatened within an inch of his life if we EVER hear that he's said it.  

Things That I'm Happy About (in no particlar order):

1)  Sasha brought me cupcakes today!  YAY!  Special cupcakes just for me (and the rest of the office, but I'm pretending and this is my blog, so they were just for me dangit!).  YAY!

2)  I got off early from work today!  YAY!!!

3)  I came home and watched New Moon when I was all alone so as not to have any interruptions!  Thoughts?  AMAZING!  Yup...I loved it!  We'll talk more on this later!

4)  I had lunch with Tiffany today!  She's getting ready to go back to the states for vacay, and offered to bring me back whatever I wanted!  YAY!

5)  Cannon got an award at the pack meeting tonight for the fastest looking boat.  YAY!  (I'll take a pic later!)

6)  I'm healthy, my family is healthy, and even though I'm pissed of at a good chunk of the island of Japan right now....Thanksgiving is on Thursday and in retrospect, I do have a lot to be thankful for.